Meet the Chicagoans ... er, Fockers

Like it or not, the Fockers are Chicagoans.

As reported here last month, the Windy City was in line for a cameo for the third comedy in the "Fockers" franchise.

It's official, the Chicago Film Office reports. Ben Stiller and Robert DeNiro will shoot scenes for "Meet the Little Fockers" from Oct. 5 to Oct. 10 downtown.

Previous scripts have hinted that male nurse Greg Focker (Stiller) and teacher-wife Pam (Teri Polo) live in Second City, but footage of Stiller and uptight father-in-law DeNiro bickering in the Loop or on the Mag Mile should seal the location deal. "Little Fockers" will deal with Greg and Pam's pregnancy anxieties and efforts to stomach their meddling inlaws. Owen Wilson returns as Pam's perfect ex-fiance.

Blythe Danner, Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand are still in negotiations to reprise their roles as Pam's mother and Gaylord's eccentric parents.

Quotables

"You understand why they haven't won in 100 years here."

-- Cubs outfielder Milton Bradley on his team. The Cubs promptly suspended him for the season.

Freebie of the week

Breakout band The Ting Tings ("That's Not My Name") give a free show tonight at 7 p.m. at Rockit Bar & Grill, 22 W. Hubbard St., Chicago. It's first-come, first-served, so arrive at least 90 minutes early at the North Side hotspot. The British pop duo are Pink's opening act.

Local bloke making good

English lassies are rooting for a hunky Chi-town native on "X Factor," the British equivalent of "American Idol." Dubbed the "Chicago Hope," Ethan Boroian,19, wowed the judges at his audition with a goosebump-y version of Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody." Watch his tryout on YouTube. The footage concludes with Simon Cowell harrumphing, "I'll tell you what I like about you. You have a good voice ... but I would say the thing is, you really like music and that, to me, is crucial."

Oh, be quiet

Oscar winner Richard Dreyfuss jumped the shark twice last week. First he rambled in the Cubs press box after the seventh-inning stretch. Then he ranted during Q&A sessions at the Hollywood Palms Cinema in Naperville. The "Goodbye Girl" star droned on (and on) in both cases about the government, how kids can't hammer a nail today or balance a checkbook, blah blah. Sample quote: "Today's generation thinks that life is going to be a cakewalk and it's not. And it's our fault. It's your fault." Sighed third wife Svetlana Erokhin, "You see what I live with every day."

Grapevine

Kanye West's hijacking of the MTV Music Awards is bound to hurt sales for his United Center show with Lady Gaga ... Kevin Smith performed his poignant, profane show in his bathrobe at the Chicago Theater ... The National Museum of Mexican Art bows its free, wonderful "Day of the Dead" exhibit at 6 p.m. today. The museum is located at 1852 W. 19th St. ... Northwestern nurse-turned-actress Bonnie Hunt is always a tonic for the troops and a shot in the arm for good causes. The talk show host hits the Palmer House Hilton on Tuesday for the Northwestern Brain Tumor Institute and returns Oct. 16 to headline the Lynn Sage Cancer Research Foundation lunch at the Ritz.

The opinions expressed are solely the writer's. Reach her at molly.woulfe@nwi.com or 219.852.4329